"It's interesting how quickly the public conversation is about how this possibly wasn't really the threat that the FBI said it was. I think that's a sign that the FBI is losing public credibility, and that's not good for our counter-terrorism efforts. And that's certainly a bad thing for the average agent who is out there trying to build credible cases."

-- Mike German, senior policy counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union and a former FBI undercover agent

"As a general matter, undercover sting operations have been used, where appropriate, to thwart certain violent plots and protect the public. The public record of guilty pleas and convictions in such cases speaks for itself."

"This is low-hanging fruit. They're not dishonestly, but naively, saying they're fighting terrorism. There's a line to be drawn between watching these people and contriving arrests like this. The arrest is contrived, but nevertheless is legal. This isn't a close case."

-- Robert Weisberg, Stanford Law School criminal justice professor

"I would need to know more facts before agreeing that he was trying to connect with the Taliban or if they were taking advantage of someone who was acting out on fantasies and providing him the tools to do it. I just don't know."

"The whole thing is just so bizarre. . . . How do you come across someone who's a loner, mentally unstable, unless they're doing surveillance?"

-- Zahra Billoo, executive director of the Bay Area chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

"The part that is most disturbing is that they're targeting Muslim communities. Law enforcement could go into any community and do what they're doing in the Muslim community, and find all kinds of weak people."